Barry Wilson

Almost until the last day before the cattle industry compensation package was announced June 17, federal agriculture minister Lyle Vanclief was floating the idea that it would include interest free loans, gradually forgivable if the industry crisis dragged on. It would be a way to get money into farmers’ hands quickly, he argued. But for […] Read more

Political critics find a little to praise and much to criticize in Ottawa’s compensation package announced last week for the beleaguered cattle industry. Mainly, opposition MPs saw it as a stopgap measure designed to make it look like Ottawa was responding but based on the uncertain hope that the border will open soon. They said […] Read more

Parliament’s attempt to modernize cruelty-to-animal laws has hit another roadblock as the Senate and the House of Commons continue their long-running stalemate over details of the bill. On June 19 before adjourning for the summer, the Senate sent back to the Commons an amended version of the bill that MPs had already rejected. “We want […] Read more

Canadian Alliance leader Stephen Harper has appointed a new agriculture critic and promoted a rookie Saskatchewan MP to be deputy opposition leader. Gerry Ritz, 51, a Rosetown, Sask., businessman and farmer in his second parliamentary term, becomes the opposition agriculture critic in the shadow cabinet. He replaces Manitoba farmer Howard Hilstrom, who does not plan […] Read more

Negotiations toward a new deal on world agricultural trade and support rules have bogged down, threatening broader World Trade Organization talks that are supposed to end by Dec. 31, 2004, says federal trade minister Pierre Pettigrew. On June 22, as a WTO ministerial meeting in Egypt wrapped up, Pettigrew also hinted that the timetable set […] Read more

Monsanto Inc. will not rush genetically modified wheat onto the market even if it wins regulatory approval from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, says company vice-president Kerry Preete. He would not predict when the product will be on the market, even though agency approval on health and safety questions could come as early as 2004. […] Read more

The federal government is trying strike a delicate balance on the controversial issue of GM crops, hoping to embrace the benefits of biotechnology on one hand and avoid market chaos on the other. A senior Agriculture Canada official told MPs last week that Ottawa is trying to develop a GM crop assessment process that will […] Read more

It’s time for countries to move beyond the rhetoric of free trade and craft a world trade deal that increases the international flow of goods without hurting farmers, says the president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture. Bob Friesen told an international economic committee of NATO officials and politicians June 11 that too much time […] Read more

New Zealand’s agricultural trade envoy is optimistic the current round of world trade talks will produce significant benefits for farmers, despite gloom about a potential stalemate or breakdown of talks this September in Cancun, Mexico. Graham Fraser, a former dairy farmer hired by the New Zealand government to travel the world promoting freer trade, said […] Read more